Maes studied with Rembrandt and then returned to his native Dordrecht, where he painted portraits and the genre scenes for which he is most admired. In this quiet interior, a young woman (probably a maid) is surrounded by velvety shadows and warmed by sunlight, as if in divine approval of her contented work.

This picture is included in a painting (private collection) of about 1824 commissioned by Sir John Murray from Pieter Christoffel Wonder (Dutch, 1780–1852), showing an imaginary gallery hung with some of the most famous pictures in English private collections of the time. Four studies for the painting are in the National Portrait Gallery, London.